Animation

Computer animation
Animation: make objects move or change over time according to scripted actions and/or (physical) laws

Outline
Animation and animation types Traditional animation Disney Computer role in animation Computer animation techniques
2D vs. 3D Object models Motion models
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Animation
Animation is produced by the rapid display of consecutive still images Minimum frame rate (humans) for smooth transitions is about 15 Hz. For film/TV, 23 Hz to 30 Hz is normal. For a smooth visual effect, higher frame rates may be necessary, and timing of frame displaying is important

Types of animation
Hand-drawn Stop motion Animatronics Performance animation (mocap) Virtual models Effects
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Early animation
Early real animation: creating each frame of a real scene by hand = stop motion animation. (Very early) example: The enchanted drawing (1900). Example: King Kong (1933), hybrid of animatronic and stop motion animation
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The enchanted drawing

King Kong

Intermezzo: King Kong 1933 & 2005

Intermezzo: King Kong 1933 & 2005

Batch

Batch

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Traditional Animation

Pauzefilm (22)
King Kong 2005: Intro & Tyrannosaur battle

Animators work from storyboards Gross timing (usually) determined by dialogue soundtrack Older animation:
Static background Characters painted on cels Lead animator creates key frames Second animator creates in between frames (inbetweens)

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Traditional animation
Many of the esthetic animation principles from traditional animation can and often should be applied in computer animation Computer animation tools enable just about anybody to make an animation Computer animation tools enable just about anybody to make a bad animation
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Traditional animation
Fundamental principles of traditional animation (Disney):
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Squash and stretch Timing Anticipation Staging Follow through and overlapping action Straight ahead action and pose-to-pose action Slow in and out Arcs Exaggeration Secondary action Appeal

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Squash and stretch: examples

Squash and stretch

Movement shows rigidity of an object soft objects deform more Squashing and stretching emphasize natural movement, object rigidity and movement speed Squash and stretch should preserve volume Laws of physics may be broken (e.g. stretch before impact) Squash and stretch need not deform the object

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Squash and stretch

Example without deformation

Squash and stretch

Squash and stretch helps avoid strobing effects (But adding motion blur is better)

Slow motion: no strobing

Fast motion:

strobing no strobing

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Squash and stretch

Timing
No in-betweens - the character has been hit by a strong force and its head almost snapped off One in-betweens - the character has been hit by something substantial, .e.g., frying pan Two in-betweens - the character has a nervous twitch Three in-betweens - the character is dodging a flying object Four in-betweens - the character is giving a crisp order Six in-betweens - the character sees something inviting Nine in-betweens - the character is thinking about something Ten in-betweens - the character is stretching a sore muscle
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Timing
Timing is the speed of an action Timing helps define an action (see example previous slide) Proper timing is critical to make the audience understand an action: time the phases (anticipation/action/reaction) so that the action is understood (not too short!) without losing attention (not too long!) Timing defines weight of objects (including characters)
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Anticipation
Anticipation is the preparation for an action

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Anticipation
Often anatomical necessity; no anticipation gives an unnatural movement Prepares audience for an action - you know what is going to happen Draws the attention action is not missed and can be faster

Anticipation

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Staging
Staging is presenting an idea so that it is unmistakably clear
Actions are staged so that they are understood A personality is staged so that they are recognisable An expression so that its visible A mood so that it affects the audience

Staging
Staging is much clearer when done entirely in good silhouette
Good silhouette Bad silhouette

For good staging the audiences attention must be where it needs to be. Staging, anticipation and timing are crucial to leading the eye Stage only one idea at a time (or it might be upstaged) Contrast the object of interest with the rest of 25 the scene

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Silhouette

Follow through and overlapping action

Follow through is the proper termination of actions Actions rarely end suddenly Most movements in an action are not simultaneous; there is a lead and there are movements that follow (or drag) behind. These movements may overlap in time

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Straight ahead and pose-to-pose action

The two approaches to animation:
Straight ahead: draw all the scenes in sequence from first to last
Spontaneous, creative

Slow in and out

A movement between two extremes is usually presented best when the movement is slowest at the extremes May not be physically correct Allows the viewer a little more time at the (interesting) extreme poses Implemented by non-linear timing of the inbetweens

Pose-to-pose: draw the main poses and fill in the inbetweens later
Focus on acting, timing
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Slow in and out

Linear timing

Arcs
Movement of (parts of) objects is generally more interesting when the movement traces an arc (splines!) instead of a straight line

Slow in and out

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Secondary action Exaggeration

Exaggeration of the motions that identify an emotional state makes this state easier to see Do not arbitrarily distort object or actions, amplify only that which enhances the underlying reason for a motion Actions have consequences. These should be part of the animation to enhance a realistic complexity Should in general be kept subordinate to the main action, to avoid detracting attention.

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Computer role in animation

Computer animation can assist the traditional animation process on many levels, e.g. by
Generating inbetweens Automating cel layering Generating images from models

Computer animated movies

Example: production process at Pixar

Computer enables many new applications:

animations in video games or other interactive media, i.e. without fully pre-scripted animation (user/rule driven), merging of film and animated models, etc.

Innovation of the entire creative and production pipeline

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1. Write the main story

2. Write the text treatment

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3. Draw the storyboards

4. Record scratch voices

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5. Make reels

6. Artists create look and feel

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7. Models are created and articulated

8. Sets are built and dressed

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9. The scenes are laid out

10. Scenes are animated

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11. Shading is added

12. Lighting is added

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13. Rendering

14. Add music and sound effects

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Embedded graphics / animation example

Computer animation techniques

2D
Sprite animation Morphing Graphic embedding

3D, virtual world

Object model
Articulated model Particle system Deformable object Hybrid

Rendering
Motion blur

Motion models

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Keyframing Kinematics Procedural Motion capture

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Computer animation techniques

2D
Sprite animation Morphing Graphic embedding

Sprite animation
A sprite is a bitmap image (or set of images) that is moved over a background Transparency Very fast, easy Fixed library of animation No dynamic lighting, depth, etc.
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3D, virtual world

Object model
Articulated model Particle system Deformable object Hybrid

Rendering
Motion blur

Motion models
Keyframing Kinematics Procedural Motion capture
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Sprite animation

Morphing
Animation which shows the metamorphosis of one image (or model) into another Based on a deformation field and blending Can often provide realistic animation based only on two (or few) images with added feature correspondences Correspondences or matching points (usually) specified manually

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Morphing examples

Thoden morphing scene

Batch

Video Clip

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Morphing Morphing

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Embedding example Embedding

Requires a (rough) projection matrix to relate a 3D model to the 2D image Requires an indication of surface where the model can be placed on Can also be used to remove image parts
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Computer animation techniques

2D
Sprite animation Morphing Graphic embedding

Articulated models
Articulated = united by means of joints

3D, virtual world

Object model
Articulated model Particle system Deformable object Hybrid

Rendering
Motion blur

Motion models
Keyframing Kinematics Procedural Motion capture
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Articulated models
An articulated model is a collection of objects connected by joints in a hierarchical structure The objects and their relative connections define the static object skeleton The joint parameters (angles) define the stance of the model The full object is defined by the articulated model combined with a skin, usually a deformable mesh Animation is achieved by changing the joint parameters 65

Skinning

Automatic skin

Modeled skin
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Skinning
Skin deformation can be obtained from joint angles

Extensions
More realism by using a model including muscles

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Particle system Particle system

Uses (lots of) particles/points Motion of particles governed by (usually) physical laws Excellent for water flow/spray, smoke, explosions, flocks of animals
Particle properties
Position Velocity (vector) Color Lifetime Age Shape Size Transparency

Particle life cycle

Generation Particle dynamics Extinction

All properties can be parametrized by age

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Particle life cycle

Generation
Particles are created randomly in a certain geometric region (generation shape) Both the random generation process and the generation shape may alter dynamically in time

Particle system: MAYA example

Particle dynamics
Once created, the properties of each particle are updated dynamically in time, following a set of (usually physical) laws

Extinction
A particle is removed if it
Exceeds its lifetime Goes out of scope (leaves the image forever) Runs into the ground: the particle properties are such that the particle is invisible or stationary (etc.) and no longer has a 71 function in the animation
Age related coloring Conic and torus force fields controlling motion Circular emission field, random generation
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Example: Smoke Particle System

Small generation shape Constant upwards velocity Funnel-shaped force field with turbulence (spin) Particles rendered as partially transparent spheres that fade over time

More examples

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Example:

The wrath of Kahn (1982)

Early use of particle system to model an explosion / raging fire

Example: water in

The Perfect Storm

Ocean created dynamically fluid dynamics

Batch

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Flowing Water
Particle systems for
water flowing over boat boat spray impact spray

Composited result

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Isengard Flooding Scene

Batch

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Particle system extension: Flocking

Each particle represents an animal, e.g. a bird, hence the name birdoid or boid. A boid is a full object not just a point or simple geometric shape, and has a local coordinate system (orientation), and can be fully rendered Often fixed number of boids (no creation/extinction) Physical laws are replaced by behavioral rules:
Collision avoidance Velocity matching Flock centering Etc.

Flocking example

Smooth transition to AI-system (no well-defined boundaries)

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Example: army flocking

Suitable for objects and materials that are non-rigid Several possible models
Finite element approximation of physically/analytically correct deformation considering material properties infeasible Mass-spring model requires differential equation solving (expensive), but looks realistic B-spline/NURBS surface with time-varying control points need to specify the variation Free-form deformation needs deformation specification, but generally only a few control points are necessary Implicit surface deformation (level set 84 evolution) poor feasibility

Deformable models

Batch

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Mass-spring model
Models an object as a series of point masses connected by springs Object can be
Point masses

Extensible springs

Mass-spring model dynamics

Motion computed from external forces and Hookes Law:

F = cU
F force exerted by the spring c constant of proportionality U deviation from rest length

A curve mass (hair, rope, muscle) A surface mass (water, cloth) A volume mass (gelatinous blob, flesh)

Rest length of springs may be a variable in animation

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Mass-spring model: 2D example

Example
Rope modelled as 1D mass-spring

Fish model Edges represent springs Bold edges represent muscle springs Dots represent masses Surface model (no internal springs)

Gravity only

Wind force from left

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Fish example

Fish stereo example

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Example: hair
Nostalgia, SIGGRAPH 2001

Extensions (hair)
Regular mass-spring (limp hair) Angular springs (bending, add body) Torsion (curling)

Batch

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Hybrid models
The different object models (articulated, particles, deformable, ) are all best suited for a particular class of object and less (or not at all) for others often systems that combine several types are necessary Allows to use the best appropriate model, but requires careful consideration of the interfacing of the models Example: diver (articulated model) diving in a pool (deformable model) creating water spray (particle system)

Computer animation techniques

2D
Sprite animation Morphing Graphic embedding

3D, virtual world

Object model
Articulated model Particle system Deformable object Hybrid

Rendering
Motion blur

Motion models
Keyframing Kinematics Procedural Motion capture
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Motion blur
Rendering technique To reduce strobing and aliasing - high frequencies masquerading as low frequencies, e.g. a wheel appearing to move backwards Implemented by multiple renderings of a fast moving object in a single frame
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